May 2008


There are a few things that get a blogger like me excited… one of them is to know that people are reading what you write! Few others include strangers telling you how they just stumbled upon your blog and found it worth a read or how your friends know you better by reading things that were just contained inside!

But then, once in a while, something special comes along. The counter at the bottom left ticks to a number followed by three zeros… and wallah… your visitor count has reached 2000!

Now, you may ask what’s so special about that? The point is that if just in a few months, and in just 30 posts, if a blogger has 2K readers, it is somewhat special and exciting… Just try writing 20 personal posts concerning your life and you’ll know how hard it is!

I could of course change my contents to more searched things like softwares, music, or popular themes like celeb gossips, free games, love etc. But what’s the fun then? Serious bloggers don’t usually find it a good practice. I write what I feel should be talked or written about. I speak my mind. I would rather take 5000 visitors an year with good content than 15-20K with the things I’ve fore mentioned.

I’d like to thank all you guys for the support. Remember, that one click matters a lot!

Love and take care,
::Cheers::

Note of Caution:

  • If you don’t listen to rock, this might seem a hard post to understand.
  • The language is classified: ‘Informal with Slangs‘. Keep your kids away.

As a rock devotee (yeah, fans are a lil’ down in d hierarchy!), you always look for any gig (an art event basically, music, dance, theatre etc) that’s happening in your city. So, when I read about HT City, Kingfisher, and RSJ Indian Rock Fest 2008, I was already jumping up and down, shouting “oh mfkr… it’s back!!!” and my friends had a hard time figuring out what was wrong with me!

The story goes like this - last year, I attended this event and I was left wanting for more since it was the last gig in my city. So, to quench my thirst, I decided not to miss out on any action this time!

For those of you who haven’t got a grip yet, Rock Fest is an annual event consisting of a series of gigs by lesser known rock bands across many clubs, lounges, and pubs in different cities! Sounds gala, believe me, it is!!

Now, the underground scene for rock in India is pretty naive and the mecca can be considered either Bangalore or Mumbai. It’s not your usual Godsmack, Iron Maiden, GNR, LP, Creed like music, it’s lesser known artists who are relatively unexploited in the industry, trying to up their popularity and give the crowd a bang for their buck! Mostly, these artists don’t hesitate to experiment with various genres of music and that’s what is this the fest’s USP! Like just yesterday, I was at this gig where ‘Aurora Jane’ was playing fusion of blues and rock. Must say, it was refreshingly awesome!

Enough said. Few advises though:

  1. If you think you are a rock ‘devotee’ (or above!), DON’T YOU FKIN DARE MISS IT!!!
  2. While you are there, keep you mind open to entirely new music. You might not like some of it, but as a whole, you won’t be disappointed.
  3. The entry is only 100-150 bucks. I don’t think that’s a bad deal for a few hours at a lounge listening to good music!
  4. If you have any concerns or need more info, MAIL ME or LEAVE A COMMENT

Yeah, btw, I was at Opus Lounge (Basant Lok, PVR Priya Complex) last night with my friend Jerome. It was the opening gig of Rock Fest ‘08. Lane 9 and Aurora Jane were performing. Frankly, Opus SUCKED. It was hardly the size of my bathroom (actually, just double… that’s it!), crowded, with no place to sit. LANE 9 should have just better fkin killed ‘emselves. Except for the two good tracks, all they did was to literally THROW shit at us! But all the shit was offset by the awesome music by AURORA JANE (Australian Band of International repute in the scene). They showed these miserable fuckers how to do it! Especially the drummer who was a cute hottie wearing full length skirt and banging those drums in style! Oh what an awesome exp that was! I returned a happy joe after all that!

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for the schedule of Rock Fest 08. Coming soon only on NTB!

Love to all metalheads!

It’s no wonder that we see the American government spend billions of dollars in the name of internal security. What amazes me is that this country, which has seen the ‘real’ face of terror for only a few years now, has pioneered in showing the world how to counter it!

Terrorism came bundled with the scheme of events that took place on the night of August 15, 1947. It became our destiny as Indians to wake up to the sounds of machine guns, AK-57s, grenades, and bombs going off in the various parts. But, again, as Indians, we replied ‘appropriately’ by turning a deaf ear to all that concerns our nation. No matter how loud the sound of this ‘cuckoo’ got, we just kept on sleeping. Not even that, dare I say, worries me! What actually gets on my nerves is the fact that every day, we see so many men, women, and children being consumed in the pyre of ‘jehaad’ and that the more we see those gory scenes on TV and the more we hear about them on the radio, the more lackadaisical we become and the lesser we care for our fellow countrymen.

The moral and cultural fabric of the society that we so commonly use to counter any comparison with the ‘west’, is, and I feel sorry and ashamed to say, being not torn but shredded into pieces. No Indian that I meet can stand up and defend this nation for five minutes against the criticism (based on facts and figures) that i toss at him/her. Though I’d more than love to loose this debate, against the usual habit, it has not happened still and I’d be shouting my lungs out at this very blog the day it does! It may sound too critical of me, even bordering sycophancy of the developed nations, but the fact is that if we have to improve, we will have to learn from those who are there already.

Our intelligence agency is called RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). It is incredibly stupid (or brilliant, depending on the way you see it!) of the people who coined the term for the pun which was ingrained. It really is a raw (read untrained) manner in which this agency functions. I can not imagine them not being able to get a tip-off for such a major terrorist activity. But again, the motto of these ‘take the nation’s money-do nothing-get fat each day-keep vacationing at behest of missions’ agents (not to offend the real agents working for agencies like CIA, FBI, MI5 etc) is to ‘rise beyond expectations’ (only to fail in a new manner each time, to maintain USP that is!) If I get kidnapped after writing this piece, you know whom to blame… no damnit, it’s not RAW (those people don’t know how to do even that!), its our age-old acquaintance, the ISI. They need me because they can’t ridicule the RAW in the manner that I do!

When a nation has 90% of its police officers above the ‘you are fat’ level and the IPS’ and IAS’ making money like poker machines, this is bound to happen. Why is it not that even after three decades, we have not been able to curtail the wings of terrorism in J&K and North-East when it took us less than five years to do that in Punjab.

The answer is not that simple but the pathway surely requires a leader who actually thinks more than the ways to live for another year! Also, an important mention would be of the role of ordinary citizens, including ME and YOU, who have been sleeping long enough to cause clinical brain damage! If we don’t wake up, the policies would not change, politicians will not feel afraid of abusing and even selling our own country, and terrorism will continue to spread.

And then, one day, you will wake up to the same sound that you have been hearing over TV for years, but you would be lying on a stretcher being rushed to the emergency and the loss of one arm won’t bother you as much as the remorse and the agony of the fact that you did not do something, anything when you could make a difference.

Vande Mataram!

Time for some updates on Jaipur Blasts:

  1. RDX used in blasts. (Do we really care about WHAT was used? Work harder and find out WHO did it!)
  2. HUJI suspected. (Ok, so this Jehaadi setup is the cowardly face behind it. Good job finding that out RAW. Oh wait, was it that they called you up to take responsibility and get the fame! Doesn’t matter, don’t cry, just CATCH them!!)
  3. PM announces 1 lakh compensation for the kin (Oh thanks Mr. Prime Minister. Thanks but we don’t want those green bundles rolling our way the next time. Stop being so fucking shameless and get those bastards!)
  4. Curfew Imposed in Pink City (Just cross your fingers and pray to god it works. Fools!)

This is for all of my friends:

  1. I’m back in Delhi since May 7, 2008. Currently, I’m braving the same old routine!
  2. My US trip was so awesome, I can’t tell you enough! Did a lot of things, had a lot of fun!!
  3. Anyone wanting ‘Hershey’s Kisses’ is most welcome to my room!
  4. All my photos are on my lappy n of course U can see them anytime!!
  5. Delhi Pub Rock Fest is beginning soon, I need a company… care to join?

For everyone:

  1. I’ll be writing regular blog posts from now on, so be sure you give my blog regular visits!
  2. I’m planning a medical students’ blog (not for medicine related stuff bt general chitchat). Anyone interested, contact me!
  3. Porn, drugs and serial killers are BAD…. stay away!!!

Enough for this one…. catcha latr!

For the uninformed, the reason why I had not been writing any blog posts for the past two months was that I was in the US for professional purposes and my daily schedule did not allow me to think beyond usual, an essential prerequisite for creative writing!

But, that was then! Now, I’m back in India with tons of interesting things and experiences to share with you guys! Most of these things are ones which you already know or have heard about, hence my motive would be to impart a fresh perspective to these experiences.

Also, upon request from a few of my friends from international blogosphere, I’ve decided to keep the vocabulary simple in my posts. This is to ensure readability and easy understanding. Certain posts shall be flagged for advanced vocab, so don’t throw away that dictionary just yet!

That should be all for now. Be sure to check out the announcements in the next post! I’m also planning on launching another blog with medical content. That is subject to finding enough contributors!

Cheers and thanks for the support!

Arpit